Jon Burkhart is a consultant, speaker, and author, baed in London. He is the co-author of Newsjacking, a 2013 book he wrote with Grant Hunter about how brands can be part of cultural conversations without looking like idiots (according to a Fast Co.Create review).

Jon started the first real-time marketing blog, UrgentGenius.com, in 2010 with his co-author, Grant Hunter. He sits on the South by Southwest Interactive Advisory Board; he has created or delivered seven talks at SxSW in four years. Burkhard leads “think-make-launch” workshops for agencies, brands, and organizations including British Design and Art Direction. He builds newsrooms in agencies to kick-start real-time content creation, and donates time to a cause he created called Millennial Mentoring, which launched at SxSW in 2013).

He spent 10 years in advertising agencies before moving into his current activities.

Bryan Person’s role at Lithium Technologies is to help the community provider’s enterprise clients offer high-level customer care to their customers across the social web. Bryan delivers strategic counsel on best practices in social customer care and online engagement, and training/implementation on the company’s cloud-based Lithium Social Web platform.

He also leads presentations and panel discussions on social customer care at events and conferences, having spoken recently at SXSW Interactive, the WOMMA Summit, BlogWorld NYC & LA, and the Social Media Club Dallas.

Bryan is the founder of the Social Media Breakfast, an event-and-networking series for teaching, sharing, and learning about industry best practices. The breakfasts began in Boston in August 2007, and have since spread to more than 50 cities around the world.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

A special report on trends and challenges facing internal communicators drew on the observations of nine internal communications experts, including Peter Shankman, gini Dietrich, Susan Cellura, Steve Kaus, and FIR co-host Shel Holtz. In this FIR interview, The report—available for free from Red E App—a mobile tool that connects employees and organizations across a variety of dimensions—addresses eight distinct problems and six solutions.

In this FIR interview, Shel talks with Red E App co-founder and CEO Jonathan Erwin about the report—Internal Communications 2015—and some of its key findings.

Jonathan is the co-founder and CEO of Red e App, an enterprise mobile platform that enables businesses to create a private or semi-private mobile network, allowing them to instantly communicate to the mobile device of their audience.

Jonathan has served in strategic sales, marketing and executive roles within the technology marketplace for over 20 years. His experience, coupled with his vision and dedication to service and thoughtful communication has led him to create, develop and bring the Red e App mobile platform to market.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

FIR Interview: Steve Rubel on Storytelling in the Age of Social News Consumption

Among the hundreds of thousands of news items distributed online every day, a precious few gain traction and spread across social networks (mostly Facebook, but even including “dark social” channels like messaging apps and email). Journalists are under increasing pressure to produce content people will share, and they are adopting practices they believe can increase the odds that their stories will lead to greater reach and more views. PR practitioners who understand these issues can tailor their outreach to editors and reporters who are being held accountable for the number of clicks their stories generate.

To better understand the characteristics of news that gets shared—and the techniques journalists are employing—Edelman partnered with two journalism-focused firms to study the issue. The 2015 Edelman Media Forecast, Storytelling in the Age of Social News Consumption, found (among other things) that more than 75% of journalists feel pressure to consider their story’s potential to get shared on social platforms, and to support thaat goal, they are infusing their stories with videos and images, brevity, localization, increased use of human voice, and a proximity to trending topics.

In this FIR interview, co-host Shel Holtz talks with longtime FIR friend Steve Rubel, Edelman’s Chief Content Strategist, about early results from the study and their implications for communicators.

Steve Rubel is an executive vice president and Chief Content Strategist for Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm. In this role, Steve studies the future of media and works across the firm’s practices and geographies to help clients unify their communications strategies across traditional, emerging, owned, and social channels.

In addition, Steve acts as a highly visible Edelman thought leader and writer on media, technology and digital culture. He speaks dozens of times each year around the world and appears frequently in the press. In addition he actively shares his observations and insights through his blog, his monthly Advertising Age column and on Twitter where he is followed by more than 60,000.

Steve has been named to several prestigious lists, including: PR Week’s 40 Under 40 and The Forbes.com Web Celeb 25.

Prior to joining Edelman in 2006, Steve worked for 15 years in a variety of marketing communications positions in corporate, non-profit and small/mid-sized PR firms.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Friday, January 30, 2015

FIR Interview: Tom Webster on Edison Research’s Share of Ear study and the rise of podcasting

Edison Research is in the process of releasing data from its Fall 2014 Share of Ear study, which takes a panel approach to assessing how much time Americans spend listening to the many categories of audio. The data produced a number of surprises, not least of which is a surge in podcast listening—more than 27 million hours consumed each day. Further, podcast listeners consume more podcasts than any other kind of audio.

Edison Research VP joins FIR co-host Shel Holtz to discuss the data and the implications for podcasting.

Tom Webster is a specialist in consumer behavior who has spent some 20 years telling stories with numbers and trying to gain insights from data. He is Vice President of Strategy and Marketing for Edison Research. He is the principal author of a number of widely-cited studies in digital and social media, including The Social Habit, Twitter Users in America, and an annual series of studies and podcating. He is also the co-author of The Infinite Dial, the longest-running research series examining consumer usage of digital and traditional media in America.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

In 2001, constitutional lawyer and professor Lawrence Lessig launched Creative Commons, a nonprofit that provided content publishers with an alternative the existing all-or-nothing copyrights. A Creative Commons license allows publishers to define what parts of their content others can share, and under what circumstances. (You are welcome to reuse FIR podcasts under a Creative Commons non-commercial sharealike license.)

From 2007 to 2012, Mike Linksvayer served as Vice President at Creative Common’s San Francisco headquarters, managing operations, finance, and technology, along with most of the staff. His LinkedIn profile notes that his role was more like the overall on-the-ground leader and Chief Operating Officer for the organization.

In this FIR interview, correspondent Harry Hawk interviews Linksvayer about Creative Commons, copyright issues in general, and the economic value of information in a free society.

Mike Linsvayer earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois. Rather than diving into an econmics career, he worked as a software developer and consultant. In 2000, he co-founded Bitzi, an early open content/open data service.

He joined Creative Commons as Chief Technology Officer in 2003 where, according to the organization’s former executive director, he brought stability to the organization much as a drummer does to a band. He took over as VP in 2007.

In addition to his work at Creative Commons, Linksvayer encouraged NASA to make its data available to the public via APIs, and advocated that scientists and planetary societies employ Creative Commons licenses to distribute phpotos and other works in order to broaden public access to them.

His commitment to his vegan lifestyle was covered in a news story that was carried by a number of media outlets. He is also an active contributor to Wikipedia.

Linksvayer blogs occasionally. You can follow him on Twitter at @mlinksva.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

FIR Interview: Philip Young, Project NEMO, on Digital Naturals

With every passing day, the distinction between online and offline becomes more obscure, says Philip Young as he explains his thinking behind ‘Digital Naturals,’ the topic of conversation with FIR co-host Neville Hobson in this FIR Interview, recorded in November 2014.

Today, Young says, nearly all of us have some digital competence. “We are becoming Digital Naturals, routinely using an array of online tools in our daily lives, even if few of us are completely comfortable in this new environment.”

Young believes the phrase ‘digital natural’ is a far more relevant and accurate way of describing people’s behaviours that transcend the rigidity and barriers of two behavioural phrases in current common use and that isn’t defined by generation, sex or age:

Digital Naturals helps both academics and practitioners understand today’s world. It is a helpful and necessary step forward from the outdated and divisive labeling of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

FIR Interview: Roger Bolton and Matt Gonring on Authentic Advocacy

Gauging the latest developments in stakeholder engagement theory and practice - and understanding their implications for those leading, managing and advising the communications function - is a primary goal of Authentic Advocacy, the latest research report from the Arthur W. Page Society.

Authentic Advocacy offers an in-depth look at how stakeholder engagement strategies are evolving and how Chief Communication Officers can best undertake them within their enterprise. It includes compelling findings about the nature of stakeholder engagement in today’s environment, learned through interviews conducted with CCOs at five leading companies - Cargill, Chevron, Lundbeck, Southwest Airlines and USAA. The report offers seven action steps for CCOs to consider when devising their approach to building and maintaining these critical stakeholder relationships.

In this FIR interview, co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz discuss the Authentic Advocacy report with Arthur W. Page Society president, Roger Bolton, and Matt Gonring, co-chair of Page’s Stakeholder Engagement Workstream, and consider some of the challenges and opportunities the report highlights for CCOs, and the transformation required in the way companies operate and engage with their stakeholders.

Roger Bolton is the president of the Arthur W. Page Society, the premier professional association for senior corporate communications executives. Members include the chief communications officers of the world’s major corporations, the CEOs of the most influential public relations agencies and leading academics from select business and communications schools.

Previously, he served as senior vice president of communications at Aetna, a $35 billion provider of health care benefits, with responsibility for all internal and external communications, advertising, brand management and corporate public involvement. Before Aetna, Bolton was IBM’s director of corporate media relations and director of communications for the IBM server and software groups.

Prior to his business career, Bolton served as assistant secretary of the Treasury for public affairs under President George H.W. Bush, assistant US trade representative for public affairs in the Executive Office of the President under President Reagan, and special assistant to President Reagan in the White House, with responsibility for the president’s relations with business and labor. He is a recipient of the US Treasury Distinguished Service Award.

As a seasoned corporate executive, Matthew Gonring has a proven record of accomplishments derived from more than 35 years of experience building and leading marketing and corporate communications teams in manufacturing, consumer goods, professional/financial services, healthcare and airlines.

Matt most recently served as VP Corporate Communications with Jackson National Life, a $25 billion leader in financial services and the largest underwriter of variable annuities in the US. Prior to that he served as Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Pactiv Corporation, a $3.4 billion leader in the consumer and foodservice packaging markets. Late in 2010, the company was acquired by Reynolds Group Holdings Limited, and Matt joined Jackson.

Matt holds a Masters degree in Public Relations from the School of Business, American University in Washington, DC, and Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point. He is a member of the Graduate Faculty, Integrated Marketing Communications Program, at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and currently serves on the graduate faculty at George Washington University. He currently is on the Board of Directors of the Arthur W. Page Society, and Chairman Emeritus of the Institute for Public Relations.

Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

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